It has been almost a week since I have posted. This past weekend was a significant one for me in that I am over the hump, my longest week of training is behind me and the taper began as of Monday morning. As of today, Ironman Arizona is a mere 18 days away, less than three weeks. I have to be honest, I still feel like race day is months and months away, but I am sure that will all change very soon.
So, everything has been going great, aside from the typical morning after soreness and slight exhaustion from tremendous amounts of exercise and less than adequate sleep. That is until Monday afternoon, when out of no where my right hip began to ache. It was totally and completely out of the blue, there was no pain or discomfort during work on Monday, it literally happened during my ride home, where I had to keep adjusting the way I was sitting because of the uncomfortability. I dealt with it and figured it was just my hip flexor acting up a bit. Even lying in bed I was uncomfortable and it made sleeping difficult, so much so that I had to pop a couple Motrin at 1:00AM (which did help).
Tuesday morning I was up and out of the house by 4:40AM to get my swim workout in, and I was hoping that the swim would help loosen up my hip. Well, it kind of did, but the pain seemed to move down to the center of my thigh. I tried using a pull-buoy to roll the muscle a bit and work out the soreness (I think it helped). I ended up cutting my swim short by about 1,300m because of pain and time.
At lunch I tried to head out for a run, I did a lot of stretching before hand and massaged the area where the pain was. It had now moved to the inside-center of the quadriceps muscle and it was sore to the touch. I tried to go running and made it about 15 minutes before I turned around and called it a day (total run 30 minutes).
That leaves me where I am today, I cancelled my standard Wednesday morning BRICK workout and am going to take the day off from training. My leg feels much better today, but it still doesn't feel "right". I am going to try swimming tomorrow and if I still feel the pain I am going to go to my sports doctor tomorrow after work and have him work on it for me. I think it is a smart move not training today, considering that if there is an issue I will be doing more harm than good, especially with the race only two and a half weeks away. I guess I'll see what happens tomorrow.
Weekend Recap
Friday - Early morning swim, 3,500m (10,500m total for the week) and I felt really good. My confidence seems to be on the upswing with regard to my swim. I left the water feeling good. Friday night I put in an 11 mile run (1:30:00), with the last three miles at sub-8:00/mile pace. Again, I felt really good and finished the workout with a smile on my face.
Saturday - Daughters soccer game at 9:00AM, she played great and I was really proud of her not only for how she played but also for being a great teammate. After the game I went out and did a 105 mile bike ride. It was supposed to be six hours long, but due to time and a flat tire I had to call it after 5:40:00. I followed the ride with a 52 minute run (6.2 miles), where I felt really strong, although I faded at the end a bit.
Sunday - I was up at 6:00AM and running along the Delaware Rive by 7:15AM. I put in a solid 21 miles in three hours. I was definitely hurting for the first four or five miles (thanks to Saturdays century ride), but I worked out the kinks and finished the run with about an 8:35/mile pace. The first five miles were around 8:50/mile, so I definitely got stronger as I went along. After a night of trick-or-treating with my girls I hit the basement for an hour long session on my trainer. I was really beat, it was supposed to be an hour and a half, but I just couldn't muster it.
That is about it for now. I am going to pray that my leg gets better and hope I can get back to normal training by tomorrow or Friday. Peace out!
My NEW journey to compete in Ironman Arizona...and hopefully KONA!
3 comments:
Hopefully it's just your body adjusting to the lower volume of taper and you'll bounce back soon. I've been feeling some slight lower back pain and other minor aches since my volume started to decrease as well. I think you're being smart to rest instead of pushing it. Keep us posted!
Listening to your body is sometimes one of the hardest disciplines to master. Best wishes and I hope a little time off is just what you need to get through this hiccup.
If it's not improving, see a sports med doc or for sure a physical therapist who understands athletes. Don't wait too long. And if you have to sacrifice a workout for time with a PT, do it! It's stressful to miss workouts at this point but consider the work with a PT equal to/better than a workout. Let us know how it's going and if there is improvement.
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